Utilities – Today’s Best Bond Alternative [The Southern Company, PPL Corporation, Xcel Energy Inc] – Seeking Alpha: To refer to any stock or equity as an alternative to bonds or fixed income is sure to stir up the ire and consternation of many professional and individual investors alike who deem themselves prudent. Frankly, under normal circumstances I would tend to agree. But the nature of bonds and other fixed income instruments are not normal today. With today’s extreme, and in the minds of many, contrived low level of interest rates, the risk profile of bonds and fixed income are far from typical. More simply stated, the currently extreme low level of interest offered by bonds and other fixed income instruments have dramatically altered, and I contend, increased their risk profile.